Symbiote 0329: Potential Investment (2/2)

Windu left after giving the two some minor instructions as they entered through the magical door that would lead to their dorm.

"Huh," Alex decided to share his observation. "I was expecting a small room with a bunk bed, not better than a college dorm. This is downright lavish compared to that."

It was less a single room and more a large two-bedroom apartment, from what Alex could tell. At first glance, they had a living room with a large TV, an island kitchen, two bedrooms, and a separate section for the bathroom that had two walk-in closets.

"Thousands of people are dead, Laura," Ororo responded. "We are the only ones who survived. I think it's valid to assume that we have enough value to them that they are willing to invest in us."

"I'm going to suggest that you quickly curb that arrogance slash confidence in your value," he responded, walking forward and taking a seat on the couch. "We are barely trainees for now. The Sorceress Supreme was downright cheery after killing thousands of people. Try not to get yourself in trouble."

Ororo didn't respond and seemed thoughtful.

"They said we would get everything we need here …" she spoke to herself and walked toward the bath section that had a large dresser along with two opposing doors that led to individual walk-in closets.

As Ororo disappeared behind a door, Alex used a subtle wave of Chaos magic to investigate the room and what kind of reinforcements were present within, including looking for any possible monitoring spells. At the same time, outwardly, he turned on the TV and put on a news channel, showing an expression of delight after realizing that everything was already available, including cable and streaming services.

'As expected …' He thought to himself. Fortunately, the runes used to maintain the room were all familiar to him from his time at the MCU's Kamar Taj. It was the same magic system that he was familiar with — the only difference was the power source for those runes, which now ran on Chaos energy instead of the usual Eldritch energy. His skill in dealing with Chaos energy-powered Mystic Arts allowed him to easily detect the purpose of all runes placed throughout the house. Surveillance runes were spread throughout the house, including the bedrooms, bathroom, and closets. The occupants had zero privacy within this room. However, one benefit of magic was that instead of directly capturing a video, the surveillance spells could do much more, like detecting energy spikes. There were even specific runes used to detect emotions like malice and rage. All in all, it was a very comprehensive system that accounted for a very large number of possible situations.

The issue, however, was that Alex didn't like being monitored. At all.

'Modifying these runes is going to take all day …' Alex sighed tiredly as another task was added to his background agenda.

He immediately started his work under the guise of watching TV and making himself comfortable on the couch. Alex applied many advanced techniques that he could only use because he had the affinity extended to him by his Wanda. Instead of outright destroying the runes, he was going to take control of them and manipulate their outputs. Even if Kamar Taj had someone manually monitoring the rooms, they wouldn't notice anything amiss unless someone directly tried to examine the runes of the dorm.

Almost an hour passed before Ororo finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed in robes provided to every apprentice.

"You're still here? I thought that you would go out to explore." Ororo asked as she saw Laura lazily resting on the couch while watching the news on the TV.

"I thought that we could go together," Laura responded. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah … I thought that you could go take a shower while I take a little tour," she suggested with a slightly defensive tone.

"Sure, I don't mind," Laura responded. "But I think it's better if we stick together for the time being. I can see that you aren't willing to trust just anyone you meet. And I respect that. But you have to put aside that dogma for now. I don't know about you, but I have no illusions about how dangerous of a situation we are really in at the moment. We can be killed, and there will be no real resolution for our deaths. So, I hope that we can stick together in this."

"You aren't confident that you will be able to face the mettle," Ororo said flatly. "I know that I have what it takes to be the best of them."

"That's even worse. Who's to say that she won't suddenly decide that she likes your innate magic and steal it from you?" Laura said. "Are you truly that dumb, or is this a momentary lapse in judgment?"

Ororo didn't show any emotions on her face before sighing and sitting beside Laura. "I'll wait for you."

"Awesome!" Laura exclaimed, straightening up and messing up Ororo's hair.

"Hey!" The victim swatted the assailant's hands away, not noticing that a small amount of black substance had invaded her body through her scalp. "I just combed my hair …"

"I think we're going to be good friends, Ororo," Laura said before standing up. "Just you wait."

"Yeah, yeah. Get ready quickly. I'm starving. We'll go have breakfast together."

Laura didn't respond and walked to the bathroom to take a shower and change into Kamar Taj's apprentice robes.

…

'Is investing in her worthwhile …' As Ororo and Laura ate breakfast together, Alex was deep in thought as he examined Ororo's physiology and genome, trying to understand how her powers work exactly.

Piecing together clues from Agatha's words and Ororo's situation, Alex understood that this world didn't exactly have mutants, per se. They existed, and many possessed the same powers as their mutant counterparts in the multiverse, but the X-gene wasn't the source of those powers. It was their bloodline. While that sounded similar, there is a world of difference between the two. For a mutant whose powers are derived from the X-gene, that gene is the complete source of their power — other than in some special cases like Phoenix. As for the so-called mutants in this version of Earth, their bloodline connected them to a specific principality that was the source of their power. Similar to how the MCU Earth's sorcerers use spells by pulling Eldritch energy from a separate dimension, the bloodline allowed this world's mutants to do the same thing innately. Technically speaking, Alex's Wanda was also a similar case, where she had an innate connection to the Chaos dimension without the X-gene.

'So … all she possesses are storm powers. Once I absorb those three Thors, her benefit to me will be negligible. That rules out a primary bond with her. At this point, other than a suitable variant of Susan Storm, I don't think anyone is worth forming a primary bond with. As for a secondary bond …' Alex thought of her trust issues and generally distant persona and ruled that out as well, leaving a Tertiary bond similar to the one he'd formed with Laura and Kamala from Hydra Earth — one without any direct interaction and a mostly automated management system for safety and motivation.

'Now … to think of a way to turn her to my side. I guess I could look for other candidates and find more mutants among them to destabilize this place from the inside while Laura works with the Mystic League to ultimately put Dr. Strange up in the position of Sorcerer Supreme. They would be a very good addition to the Widows. Firstly, however, I need them to lift the blockade from me and Ororo interacting with other people …' Alex looked around to see the entire mess hall completely empty. While they had come to eat breakfast far too late, they shouldn't have been the only people in there.

"Yo!" Ororo snapped her fingers in front of Laura's face. "Earth to Laura. Are you still alive?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I've been calling you for the last minute. How deep into your thoughts were you?"

"I was thinking whether or not I should introduce you to my special suit," Laura said. "I'll tell you about it when we get back to the room."

"Special suit?" Ororo frowned.

"You were telling me about your heritage," Laura forcefully changed the topic. "You're from an isolated Kenyan tribe?"

"On my mother's side," Ororo said. "It is said that each of them has had the potential to wield magic."

"Oh?" Laura raised a brow. "So that's why you're confident in your abilities and potential."

"Partly," Ororo said. "Partly because of my innate ability to control the weather. I have always suppressed it, but any strong emotional outbursts usually lead to very bad weather. I would like to control my ability. That is why I am here. What about you? What prompted you to accept the invitation?"

"I never got an invitation," Laura said. "I found a flyer that led me to the New York Sanctum. It had an … uncanny compulsion to it, no?"

Her conversation partner's sharp timbre was not lost on Ororo as her features stiffened in response. "Sorry …"

"Test me again, and we will have a problem, Ororo," Laura said seriously. "We live together. No one's going to stop me if I decide to drug you to sleep and draw a dick with a magical permanent marker on your face. I'm sure they have one of those lying around here."

Ororo had just gotten defensive when she heard Laura's serious tone, but it immediately dissipated with an amused snort.

"I can be very petty, Ororo. Do you get it?"

"Fine, fine," the mutant shook her head with a disarming smile. "I won't test you anymore."

'Thank fuck for Chaos-based hypnosis …' Alex inwardly let out a stressed sigh after barely passing Ororo's test. Luckily, after the first time, he was prepared for such a situation and promptly glanced at her surface memories before responding to her question.

***

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